His Administration
Do you know what the gift of Administration looks like? How can you tell whether you have it or know for sure you don’t have this gift of the Spirit?
The Gifts of the Spirit
The gifts of the Spirit are mentioned in Romans 12 and in 1 Corinthians 12 but there are others besides these and there may actually be more gifts than are even mentioned in the Bible that we aren’t aware of right now. The gift of administration is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:28 “And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.”
What is the Gift of Administration?
What is this gift of the Spirit in administration? It is the ability to organize, plan, implement, and keep track of various secretarial duties and records. This would help those who are involved in the organizational structure of the church. They are likely a strategic thinker who thinks outside of the parameters of most, they have developed and improved their leadership skills, they are able to manage people and projects, finances, information, and stay on task while others might get lost in the details. They might even be able to help others accomplish tedious or difficult tasks and multitask different projects or prescribed duties of certain plans and meetings and are able to set or meet objective goals. They are likely computer-savvy and might even have excellent people skills.
A person with the spiritual gift of administration most likely has a passion for this. They are crucial for any church, ministry, or para-church to function well. They are not likely to feel overly burdened with what for others are menial or overwhelming tasks. They sometimes record the minutes of a church board meeting, they research costs of projects and are able to plan ahead and see many things that are unseen or overlooked by others. Their attention to detail and recall of past events and activities helps them to pull out from their memory banks any unforeseen circumstances that might slip past the attention of others. They can make decisions for others when others are not able to choose the wise thing(s) to do or that are essential for whatever they are involved in.
It is not men or women who appoint those in the Body of Christ for placing each of the members in unique and important areas of the church. This is done directly by God as 1 Corinthians 12:28a says that “God has appointed” them. They have the spiritual gift of having things in order and know that “God is not a God of confusion but of peace” or order (1 Cor 14:33) and so they naturally already know that“all things should be done decently and fin order” (1 Cor 14:40). This might explain why Paul wrote to Titus saying “This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you” (Titus 1:5).
If your life is a life of order and not one that is highly disorganized and disconnected, and if you can organize what is presently a disorganized mess, and if you like things done efficiently, you may have the gift of administration. Maybe you’re the only one who can bring order out of chaos. You might have a better grasp on what the true priorities are in a certain project or task. Maybe you’re experienced with working on spreadsheets, graphs, organizational charts, long term planning, proper computer software applications, proficient in keeping the minutes of a meeting, experienced in creating an agenda, adapt at wisdom and logical thinking, and are predominantly energized when you seek a foreboding task that might make others might run away…is so, it is possible you have the spiritual gift of administration.